A Deadly Weapon
by Karaoke
Summary: A girl is found, half dead, in the forest of Konoha. With a lame story, no known name or family, and astonishing powers, she quickly becomes an object of interest, but what she is hiding, and what is being hidden even from her,is beyond anyone's guess.
1. Chapter 1

Hello, anyone reading this story! I would like to tell you a bit about it right off the bat.

Don't label ANYONE MarySue straight away, okay? If you do, you are ignorant. In fact, I think anyone who flames on the first chapter, unless it is for terrible grammar or something along those lines, is ignorant. Let me get a few chapters to get the plot and characters develop, and then flame if you still want to.

Anyways, I won't tell you too much. Hopefully the summary was good enough. (I tend to be not that good with summaries.) At any rate, enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or I wouldn't be wasting time writing FANFICS!

...I do own my OC, though. Whether she likes it or not. (evil laugh)

* * *

PROLOGUE

The pain subsides from the agonizing cramps and searing burns to a steady, raw soreness. Blood is everywhere, but above all she does not feel hurt so much as simply exhausted. She wants to sink into numb, blissful sleep, but first she must see them, the beautiful faces she has brought into the world. Wanting to speak impatiently, but too tired to do so, she waits for the nurses to finish rinsing both of them off.

But the nurses are speaking in low, serious voices. There is a terrible silence, and worry creeps into her system, entering as a stab in the stomach and swelling up into a monstrous throb. Her throat constricts.

"Umm…anou…" comes a tentative voice. She struggles to lift her head and glimpses the youngest nurse twisting her gloved hands together and looking scared. "Congratulations… you've just had a lovely baby boy." She says it like a question.

She clears her throat and manages to speak, urgency spurring her on. "There were two," she croaks. "There's another."

The doctor steps forward, an older woman; her nose and mouth are obscured by the blue medical mask, but the bland brown eyes above the line of her mask are sympathetic. She cradles a small bundle in her arms. There is a long, long silence.

"No," the woman in bed whispers. The doctor bows her head.

"I'm sorry."

"_No!" _She struggles, ignoring the blood that rushes up her throat from straining her voice, reaching for the lifeless form pleadingly. "You're wrong… let me see… let me…" she whimpers like a child.

The doctor is already backing away, eyes averted apologetically. "She was stillborn."

"You're wrong!" A thin trickle of blood seeps from the corner of her mouth.

"I'm sorry," the doctor repeats, and hurries out of the room, motioning for the nurses to follow. One of them is relieved to do so, scooping up the first baby, the one that had lived, as she follows the doctor, but the young one who spoke first hesitates and takes a tissue out of the box on the bedside table. She approaches the woman in the bed to wipe the blood from where it dribbles down her chin, but the lady thrashes to get her away, nearly backhanding her. When she had come in, she had been a soft-spoken, gentle lady, but that lady was nowhere to be seen right now. A screaming, hysterical dervish had taken her place.

"Tanaka-san," says the doctor, appearing in the doorway. "I said come."

Ms. Tanaka bites her lip. "But—"

"Now."

With a last sympathetic glance at the mother, Tanaka reluctantly leaves the room, and the doctor closes the door with a sense of finality. And the lady in bed is left in the empty room to flail and scream and cry.

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CHAPTER ONE

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Sasuke savoured the peacefulness. After the tragic events of the Sand Village attack and the Sandaime's death, even his fangirls were temporarily uninterested in their usual hobbies of stalking him. It was nice to be able to walk alone for awhile, or with his teammates, without being followed by tittering girls.

He absently plucked leaved off of low branches while he strolled along. He was now entering the forest, though keeping to the sparse areas and not intending to go too deep. It was comforting here… cool, in the shade, a placid sanctuary.

A left turn onto what Sasuke had thought to be a deer trail turned out to be a dead end; thick underbrush clustered over the ersatz path and rotting logs lay hidden in moss for people to trip over. Sasuke turned to head back and nearly strangled himself on a vine. Disentangling himself (not without difficulty), he took a step backwards and stumbled over a fallen tree, landing ungracefully on his butt on the mossy ground.

_Uchiha Sasuke… so graceful, so deadly accurate in battle, so clumsy in everyday life, _he though sarcastically. He muttered a curse at the shred of vine still wrapped around his neck, flung it aside, and twisted his upper body around to plant both hands on the ground so he could get up. He froze.

His hands had plunged into a tangle of grass, fallen leaves… and hair. In shocked, unthinking horror he twined a handful of the thick strands through his fingers, disbelievingly, then yanked his hands back in disgust. His gaze trailed up. The stringy hair, black as a nightmare, was emerging from behind a holly bush, its owner blocked from view by that and a thick curtain of glossy Nightshade berries. The hair was spread out in a dark tendrilled splash, like a blot of ink, like a splatter of blood.

Sasuke slowly got to his feet and inched forward to sweep aside the spray of Nightshade leaves.

It was a girl around his age, though given the appearance of added years by how unhealthy she looked. Her skin was dry and cracked, and her lips as pale as the rest of her face, so as to be barely visible. Her eyes were closed, and the skin over them was stretched tight. She was not unnaturally thin, but nevertheless the word "gaunt" seemed appropriate to describe her. She was sprawled across the ground, and her hair that was splayed all over was the longest Sasuke had ever seen. It must have reached to her lower back at least.

Brow furrowed, Sasuke knelt by the girl and pushed a clump of hair aside to take the pulse in her neck. It beat erratically, weakly. Sasuke got to his feet, backed up slowly, and then turned to race back to the village.

---------------

"She looks half dead."

"Get out of my way—excuse me—"

"Put her here…"

"I'm trying, you moron, if you'd _move—"_

"Oh—sorry—"

A light puff of sound…

"She's so light, look, she barely dented the covers."

"Dehydrated… water, hurry up, pass the water."

The voices were the first to penetrate through the darkness. They floated faintly in between the layers of sub conscience, the words chopped apart and not registering enough in the girl's mind to make sense. But what came next made sense: a cool trickling over her chapped lips. She tried to open her mouth, but someone had pressed a finger between her jawbones in the hollow of her cheek and done it for her already, and then, finally, yes, there was water flowing down her throat. She chugged greedily at the bottle, the icy liquid brining her slightly more to her senses.

"Not so much, you'll drown her," someone said, as water dribbled down her chin.

_No! I don't care, drown me, please, just so long as there's water… _she thought frantically, but the waterskin had been drawn away. With great effort, the girl opened her eyes a sliver. Her eyelids felt dry as parchment and rasped against her bloodshot eyes. A glimpse of the world presented itself to her: white ceiling, a crowd of serious faces peering down at her, a window on the far wall. Patches of a quilt. Then the water bottle was pressed back to her lips and she cared about nothing else.

---------------

This time when she awoke she felt, finally, clear headed. Her eyes itched but didn't feel dried out anymore, and they opened easily. She sat up hesitantly.

A hospital room, by the looks of it. Her bed was narrow and the thin blue covers overtop her smelled of disinfecting soap. Beside her bed was a small table, on which rested a pitcher of water, an empty glass, and… her clothes? She looked down in horror, and sure enough, she was dressed in a hideous, though comfortable and warm, pale green hospital gown.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, drank half the pitcher of water in one breath, and got up, testing her weight experimentally. Her legs ached and threatened to give way, but she stubbornly forced herself to walk across the room. Like hell she was going to rot away in bed all day. And she wasn't going to wear this ugly rag either. She shucked her arms from the sleeves of her gown and the door opened.

"Excuse me!" she yelled indignantly, the limp arms of her gown hanging by her side.

"Ah… gomennasai…" said the nurse who had poked her head in through the door. "I didn't think you'd be up. You were asleep for almost a day, but considering how close you were to death, you actually recovered very rapidly…"

"Where am I?" the girl asked brusquely, cutting her off. She slid her arms back into her sleeves. She obviously wasn't going to change in front of the nurse, and she didn't feel like standing like a dope.

"Konoha," the nurse replied, "Konoha hospital."

"Konoha…?" The girl's dark onyx eyes bore into the nurse's for a long moment, stunned, contemplating, hesitant.

"Is something the matter?"

"I must speak with your Hokage!" the girl whispered urgently, and her hand flew up to her mouth as if she couldn't believe what she had just said.

The nurse's gaze dropped. "Such a time for you to say that…" she said quietly. "I am most regretful to say that merely yesterday… he was killed."

_So they have already acted… but of course, I lost track of time in the desert, it must have been quite a long time. I'm too late, then… _the girl pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.

"I'm not sure what business you would have had with the Hokage—certainly, you are not a familiar face in our village," the nurse said, casting the girl a curious look. "You will be answering a considerable amount of questions later on, I'll tell you that. But first!" she clapped her hands, suddenly cheery. "Let's get you cleaned up; you're filthy. And your clothes have just been washed, so don't even think about putting them back on until you've had a bath. Let's go, then." She opened the door and motioned for the girl to follow her out into the hallways. Stabs of pain continued to shoot up her legs as the girl walked, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself not to hobble.

---------------

"I heard you rescued an unconscious girl from the forest, Sasuke-kun!"

"I just found her. Genma-san actually carried her away; she's in the hospital now," Sasuke told Sakura, who had just rushed up to him with Naruto.

"Genma-san?"

"He was the first person I saw."

"Hey! Hey! Was she really beautiful?" Naruto wanted to know. Sasuke gave him a scornful look.

"Who cares? Not really."

"Oh," said Naruto with a small sigh.

"I wonder where she comes from…" mused Sakura. "Maybe we should visit her at the hospital."

"She'll probably be interrogated, what with the recent attack," Sasuke pointed out.

"Yes, but… that might not happen right away. I'm really curious. Let's go see her, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura pressed. He shrugged. Admittedly, he was curious about the strange newcomer as well.

Naruto tagged along as they set off, whining. "Why are you so interested in some injured girl? What's the big deal?"

"You don't have to come!" Sakura snapped. Naruto sulked and fell silent.

They entered the hospital and asked the lady at the reception desk if the girl from the forest was well enough to see anybody. She said yes, but she was being cleaned up first; however, she paged the nurse who was with her at the moment and requested that the girl be brought down to the reception room when she was finished. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke sat down to wait. Sakura immediately grabbed a fashion magazine, sighing wistfully over the pictures, and Naruto tried to read it over her shoulder; Sasuke slouched in his seat and glared at the world in general.

"This is boring…" Naruto started to whine, when Sasuke looked up. Sakura did the same quickly, and Naruto followed suite.

"Well, hello, Naruto. Sasuke, Sakura." The nurse nodded to each of them respectively. Beside her stood the girl. A day's rest and lots of water had done her infinite good: her eyes were no longer sunken and she didn't look decrepit and sickly anymore. She was very short, about Naruto's height but looking even shorter because of his spiky hair, and still a bit too thin, but something about her posture, her expression, made it clear that she was not the sort who took trouble from anyone. She had a stubborn chin and dark, penetrating black eyes, which bore into each of the 3 ninjas in turn. Her hair, though, was what really caught one's attention. It had been washed and combed, and hung in a sleek, glossy curtain down, not just to her back, Sasuke noted, but actually down to her knees, except for the bangs on either side of her face, which were cut slanted so the started out level with the bottom of her nose and ended up chin length. She wore olive green, baggy shorts and a black tank top. She had custom ninja sandals, but no headband. Her features were perfectly average, but her hair was so striking that it lent her a certain attractiveness.

"You're my visitors?" she asked. Her eyes could have drilled holes into their skulls, and she wasn't even glaring. Her lips, as they moved, were still badly enough chapped to bleed, but at least they were a normal colour again.

"Yeah," said Naruto, speaking up first.

"Why do you want to see me? I don't know you." The girl frowned. "You can leave," she added to the nurse.

The older lady smiled placidly at her rudeness. "Do I hear a please?" she asked pleasantly.

"No," the girl snapped outright. "You can pretend you did though, if it matters."

The nurse raised her eyebrows. "I hope you don't speak that way to the committee advisors that way when they question you; it could only cause petty troubles. Speaking of which, they will be coming by soon, so please stay in the hospital."

The girl stared at the nurse for a second, apparently thinking something over. Finally she bowed. "Yes… of course. I'm sorry for my tone."

"No problem." The nurse gave her a half-smile and left her with the other three. The reception room was empty except for them and the lady at the desk.

The girls sat down on the seat next to Sasuke. "Alright… hello," she said awkwardly, seemingly making an effort to be polite. "Who are you?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Haruno Sakura."

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

"And you?" asked Sakura, leaning forward to look at the girl. "What's your name?"

The girl laughed. "I was raised without such a thing," she said conversationally.

"Raised without a name?" Sasuke looked straight at the girl for the first time.

"How can you be _raised _without a _name?" _Sakura asked incredulously.

The girl inspected her fingernails. "For a true ninja, names are an inconvenience. Names, possessions, habits—they tie you down to your identity."

Ignoring how she had basically just said that they were not true ninjas, Sakura raised her eyebrows at this statement. "That's a bad thing? You don't _want _an identity?"

"It is the difference between stomping through sand in heavy boots for everyone to follow, or treading lightly in bare feet, erasing your tracks. In my world, it is better to be a blur. People can't pin you down, can't recognize you."

"You're not in bare feet," Naruto said, frowning at the girl's sandals. She looked up at him, brow creased in puzzlement.

"What?"

"You said it's the difference between—"

"It's a figure of speech, Naruto!" Sakura said sharply.

"Oh."

"How do you get through life without a name, though?" Sakura pressed. The girl opened her mouth, but Sasuke actually spoke up.

"It depends on just what kind of life it is, doesn't it?" he said in his quiet monotone. The girl gave him a slightly appraising look and a nod.

"But… well…" Sakura stuttered, not sure at how to react to this unexpected comment. "…what do your friends call you?"

The girl stared at her. A long stare, blank. Even Naruto got the hint. "I mean… never mind," Sakura whispered.

The girl shrugged indifferently. "If it's so important, I do have names, of sorts. My… mentor, they never allowed me a permanent name, for reasons I have just explained, but you're right, it would be virtually impossible to go through life without _something _for people to call me, on occasion. So I would every once in a while have a name to be called by, if it was convenient for the mission. They never stayed the same, though…" She gazed blankly at the far wall, twisting a strand of her bangs.

"Well?" Naruto prodded. "Gonna list some of 'em, or what?"

"I'm trying to remember," she said, not even turning her head. "I've been… Kyoufu, Kyoukou…" (A/N: translations: fear, horror; panic)

"What?" Sakura recoiled in shock, while Naruto's eyes widened and Sasuke's narrowed.

"…and Kyouki…" the girl finished quietly. (A/N: lunacy; madness, or deadly weapon)

She smiled disarmingly and then beamed at them. "You can call me Kyo."

* * *

Yay, a lunatic! Okay, well, please review, though I'm not expecting many... most people don't have much to say for a first chapter. And I shall update soon! The more reviews I get, the sooner. Hint, hint.

-KarAokE


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! Thank you, all the people who reviewed! For the sake of some of the more inquisitive of you, and also just because the basic summary sucked (it's not my fault; this site doesn't let you make it long enough!) I've decided it would be good idea to write a better summary here. Well, I say summary... more in the form of some notes.

The timeline, for one. As you may have realized, the story's timeline is set right after the attack of the Sand Village and the Sandaime's death. The story will be going on as normal, but what would have happened if there was this extra character, as well.

And the whole mystery shrouded around Kyo. Well, yes, she does have some connection to Konoha, but I'm not telling you how. Yes, the prologue was significant (otherwise why would I have told it?), but... that's for you to figure out later. And then there's her whole history. Well, that's mainly what this chapter is about, so... I'll leave that open as well.

Let's see... I know there was more I wanted to say, but I've forgotten. Besides, I don't want to ruin the story. At any rate, you'll find out the answers to your questions sooner or later! And... bear with me! The beginning may be lots of dialogue and not much action, but I have to get it over with. Ciao!

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah blah blah... I would love to say I own Naruto, but the credit goes to that other guy... can't remember hisname. ...Masashi Kishimoto or something? Anyways, I'm eternally grateful towards him for coming up with the Narutoverse, and I can do nothing more than dabble around in it.

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CHAPTER TWO

Kyo got up.

"Wait—" started Naruto, before seeing her reason for departure; a committee advisor had appeared in he doorway.

"Ciao," said Kyo, still smiling cheerily. She fluttered a little wave and walked away.

They watched her go. "That girl is definitely strange," Naruto finally concluded. "A little scary, too. Do you think she's really been known by those names?"

"She was probably just trying to intimidate us," Sakura said, though she sounded uncertain. "What do you think, Sasuke-kun?"

"I think I'd like to know exactly what she tells that committee advisor."

The committee advisor, a short, elderly woman, led Kyo down an empty hallway and opened a door.

"I'm getting questioned in the hospital?" Kyo asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"There's no particular reason," the woman assured her pleasantly. "It was just close, an empty room that ensures privacy. If you'd like to go outside instead, it's perfectly fine."

"No, I'm fine. It doesn't matter," Kyo said, sticking her hands into her pockets. The room was an office of some sort; a wide desk sat a few feet from the farthest wall with a chair on each side. The committee advisor took the seat closest to the wall, so Kyo sat in the one across the desk from her.

There was a brief shuffling of papers as the committee advisor organized the clipboard she had brought in with her and unscrewed an ink bottle. Then she set her fine-tipped brush down and sat back. "Well," she started, cocking her head to one side and blinking at Kyo with a friendly, disarming smile.

_Here it comes, _thought Kyo. _Always the first question, the one that should be easiest and the one I can't answer. Wait for it…_

"What is your name?"

Kyo sighed. Not bothering to go into the same explanation she had given her 3 visitors—it would only raise more questions—she said simply, "Kyo. What's yours?" she added flippantly.

The woman smiled a tight-lipped smile. "Utatane Koharu. Is Kyo your family name, then?"

"No. Before you ask, I don't know what my family name is."

"Oh?" Immediate intrigue. The woman leaned forward and laced her stubby fingers together. "How's that?"

"I'm an orphan," Kyo supplied mildly. "Or at least that's what I've been told. I really don't know. At any rate, I've never met my parents."

The committee advisor bowed her head politely. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Kyo shrugged. "Okay."

"So who did raise you? Not a relative, I guess."

"No. An old lady." Kyo lied for the first time. "She said my parents came to her one night in a panic and asked her to look after their baby. They shoved me into her arms and ran off. Later that night, they were both found dead." Kyo had constructed this story a while ago and had gone over it again and again, carefully smoothing over flaws and filling in blanks, building a background for herself. Mostly she didn't have much to hide—after all, she barely knew anything about herself either—but who she was raised by and why… those were things she would take to the grave.

Utatane leaped at the opening. "And this old lady couldn't tell you the surname of your parents?"

"No; she told me they must have been from out of town, because she'd never seen them before."

"They were complete strangers, and yet she took their child?" The lady gave her a dubious look.

"They didn't give me much of a choice, just shoved me at her and ran. Later, she didn't give me to an orphanage when she heard of their death because she was a widow who'd never had children, and was lonely."

"Hm. And what is the name of this woman?" The brush hovered above the paper.

"I don't believe it's my position to give out that information," said Kyo coolly. "Anyways, she died last winter."

The committee advisor straightened and blinked. "Again, you have my sympathies for your loss," she said. "And I apologize for pressing at such personal matters. Perhaps I could ask of some less sensitive issues. Where are you from, Kyo? The journey must have been quite brutal; you were half dead when found."

_So I've heard. _"The Hidden Sand Village," Kyo told the woman, who shot up in her chair, shocked, as Kyo had suspected she would. After all, Konoha had just finished being attacked by the Sand Ninjas. "I had nothing to do with the attack," Kyo said calmly, before her inquisitor could say anything. "The reason I was trying to get here was to warn everyone, but I got lost in the desert for… I don't even know how long."

Utatane looked more suspicious than ever. "Is that so? You betrayed your village, or attempted to, in favour of a village you'd never been to, had no emotional bonds to?" she scoffed.

Kyo beamed, imagining punching her in the face. "Exactly."

"May I ask why?"

Kyo settled back in her chair and played with her hair. "For one thing, I may have had no emotional bonds to Konoha, but neither did I consider the hidden Sand Village the place where I belonged."

"You grew up there."

Kyo fixed her with a cold gaze. "Around people who hated me? Around nobody of my kin, or who knew my parents? Kids who laughed at me and adult figures who didn't take me seriously? That is no home of mine."

"Why—" the committee advisor started, but Kyo waved her into silence.

"Because the one person I'd loved had just died, when I heard of the village's plan to attack Konoha, I had no bias in favour of my village, which allowed me to listen to all aspects of the debate with an impartial opinion. And I believed that it was my village that was in the wrong; Konoha had done nothing to _us. _So I tried to thwart them by coming here, but I was too late."

They both were silent for some time while the committee advisor pondered over this new crop of what was mostly untrue. The reason for wanting to warn Konoha that Kyo had given was indeed true, but exactly why she had no emotional bonds with the Hidden Sand village was not because kids laughed at her and people hated her. Rather, they feared her. But that wasn't even the entire reason. If anything, she had a grudge against the village.

"Why did people hate you and the other kids laugh at you?"

Kyo rearranged her face into an affronted expression. "I don't know!" she snapped. "Why is _anyone _an outcast! Why don't you ask _them?" _

"I'm sorry, I'm very sorry," Utatane-san said quickly. "Are you a ninja, Kyo?"

The question had been sure to come sooner or later. "Yes," Kyo said. What a question. Was she a ninja? If only they knew.

"Genin?"

Kyo shook her head slightly. "Chuunin."

"You weren't in the exam, though…"

"I became a chuunin five years ago," Kyo stated flatly. Only barely did the interrogator keep the shock off her face."

"And you're how old?"

"Twelve."

"Well, well. An astonishing ninja you are. Incidentally, where is your headband?"

"It should be in the forest somewhere near where I passed out, along with my pack and weapons." A hint of impatience crept into the girl's voice. "I've been hoping I could go fetch them sometime soon…?"

"Soon, of course. But stay a bit longer; you've piqued my interest greatly. There is much to you past what meets the eye, Kyo."

_Brilliant statement. You think you know the half of it? _Kyo smiled blandly, neutrally, in politeness, her hands clasped loosely in her lap. It was clear that her questioner didn't trust her or her explanations, but the explanations she'd given were the ones she was sticking with, however much it aggravated the woman sitting across from her. Two fake smiles glimmered at each other.

Kyo knew what was going through the lady's mind as she looked at Kyo with a slight expectancy. _If you think you're going to make me nervous with those froggy eyes, you've got another thing coming, _Kyo told the committee advisor mentally. _You'll crack first, and we both know it._

"For someone to become a chuunin at such an early age… well, you must be an exceptional ninja."

Kyo stayed silent, waiting for the committee advisor to become frustrated and just get to the point.

It worked, finally. "And how did you get so good? What was your incentive? Surely this old lady who raised you, who was so lonely, wouldn't have pressed you to become a ninja, where you would just be away from home constantly, and endangering your life?"

_How would you like that smug smile shoved down your throat? _Kyo suggested inwardly, her face still composed and polite on the outside. The committee advisor settled back with the air of someone who knows they've stumped their adversary and can't wait to bust them for lying.

Kyo smiled vaguely. "no problem; I didn't mind answering your questions," she said softly, inclining her head and letting her hair slip out from behind her ears. It cascaded forward, partially covering her face.

The committee advisor opened her mouth, and closed it again. A small line of puzzlement creased her forehead. What had she been doing…? Oh, right. The girl. But she had dismissed her, hadn't she? This was why she wasn't here anymore, of course. But something still didn't feel quite right.

Kyo sat perfectly still as Utatane squinted straight at her. She knew that the woman would see a flicker of her if she was concentrated enough, but it wouldn't be for long.

It didn't make sense. Utatane could feel a small sense of wrongness niggling at the back of her mind, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Her eyes started to water as she strove to keep Kyo in her vision, but she was having trouble focusing. Her brain, her senses, were telling her Kyo wasn't there, but she saw her, albeit vaguely; her sight kept slipping in and out of focus.

Kyo got slowly to her feet. Her hair swung around her, still covering most of her face. "Yes, that's a good idea; I'll go pick up my stuff. Thank you."

"Oh… yes, of course…" the lady stuttered, shaking her head like a wet dog. Of course she'd dismissed the girl; she'd answered all the questions and everything. The committee advisor made one more attempt to concentrate, to look at Kyo, but the air there seemed warped.

Kyo simply stood motionless. She knew the confusing effect she created when she disappeared; everyone in her presence would suddenly start forgetting she was there, and their senses would all tell them she wasn't.

She didn't literally disappear. She didn't know herself how she managed it. All she knew was that of she hid herself behind her hair, and simply didn't want to be seen, anyone around her would abruptly forget she was there. She suspected it was a quirk of the conscience that the mind wouldn't be able to explain itself for suddenly forgetting what it had been doing right in the middle of a conversation with her, and so it covered it up in such a way that people who had been affected, when looking back, would perhaps remember a strange sensation, but would believe against all odds that Kyo's departure had been perfectly normal. So Kyo knew that Utatane-san was, at the moment, thinking she had dismissed her in a perfectly normal way.

Across the room, the woman stared blankly at where Kyo was, but to her senses, wasn't, and then shook herself one last time and looked down at the desk to flick some more notes on her paper. Kyo knew that now she could leave without being seen or thought about, so long a she didn't make a commotion. She quietly opened the door and glided out. Once outside, she flipped her hair back behind her shoulders and started down the hall.

"May I go?" she asked the receptionist in the waiting room. The lady looked up askance from the magazine she was reading.

"Where you questioned?"

"Yes."

Ms. Reception Desk looked around, put down her magazine, and sighed apologetically. "Well, technically I'm supposed to wait for the say-so from your interrogator before letting you go, actually."

Kyo pursed her lips slightly in annoyance. "Well, she's not here right now," she pointed out patiently.

"I can see that," replied the lady, raising an eyebrow. "Where is she?"

"Oh, I chopped her up and put her in the garbage," Kyo snapped irritably. "She was taking notes and dismissed me, okay? She didn't seem in any huge hurry to lock me up and warn everyone that I'm a bloody mad killer; I'm sure she'll give you a report if you go ask. Now may I go?" Without even waiting for an answer, she flipped a sheet of hair in front of her face and let herself zone out of the receptionist's mind, who blinked only once before going straight back to her magazine. Kyo made her quick and silent getaway.

The brightness of the outside world made Kyo's head spin after her long rest in the cool interior of the hospital. Rubbing her temples, she wandered about for a bit, looking for someone who might know where she had been found and could direct her in that general direction. Finally she just stopped the nearest person, or rather, approached him, for he was quite substantially stopped already, slouched against the wall of a building with his hands shoved into his pockets, gazing up at the sky. He didn't appear much older than Kyo, yet he wore the vest of a chuunin. His eyes lazily lowered to take in Kyo as she approached.

"Chotto sumimasen…" she started. (A/N: Translations for Japanese phrases are at the end of the chapter.)

"Yeah?"

"Uh… do you know anything about the girl who was found in the forest recently?"

The boy scratched his head. His dark brown hair was pulled into a spiky ponytail. "Uh, not really. Sasuke found her and they brought her to the hospital. That's about it. Why?"

It still felt strikingly odd to be addressed so casually as an equal. "Sasuke? Uchiha Sasuke?" Kyo asked, remembering her visitors at the hospital.

The boy blinked and stared at her for a second. "Oh, I get it," he said finally. "You're the girl that was found, aren't you?"

"How do you know?" Kyo frowned.

The boy smirked. "Every other female would know who Sasuke is. As is, I'm actually amazed word of him hasn't spread to girls of other countries, as well."

It took Kyo a moment to realize he was joking. "Oh," she said, cracking a feeble smile. "One of those ladies' men?"

"Something like that," agreed the boy, his smile growing wider. "I'm Nara Shikamaru, by the way," he introduced, extending a hand. Kyo took it lightly and shook it. Introductions, how she loathed these new things.

"I'm… Kyo," she faltered for a second. Whatever, she thought. If she was going to start a new life, she might as well adopt this name for good.

"Just Kyo? Nothing else?" Shikamaru released her hand.

"Nothing else."

"Very mysterious."

"Of course. So, could you tell me where to find Sasuke, maybe?" Kyo asked.

Shikamaru laughed. "_I _couldn't. But ask any girl aged ten to fifteen that you see, any. I assure you 99 percent of them will be able to help you out."

---------------

"Not even a name?" Kakashi echoed, sounding considerably surprised.

"None. She seemed to be extremely concerned about secrecy of her identity," Sakura told him.

"And about shoes and bare feet," Naruto chipped in. The others ignored him

"It kind of makes you wonder what kinds of things she does, that require such caution," Sasuke said significantly.

"I was just thinking that," Kakashi said. "If they hadn't just finished attacking us, I would be inclined to think her a spy of the Sand, but as is, well…" He shrugged.

"Hey. Sasuke?" someone called. They all turned. Kyo, approaching them, slowed to a halt as she noticed Kakashi. She bowed politely. "Ohayou gozaimasu, sensei," she addressed him.

Kakashi's eye smiled. "Ohayou. I take it you're the nameless girl?"

Kyo's eyes flickered to the rest of them. So they'd been discussing her with this man, who she suspected was their team sensei. "Yes… but I'm going by Kyo," she added.

"Short for _Kyouki," _Sakura just had to add. Kyo gave her an exasperated and somewhat resentful look as Kakashi raised his eyebrows.

"Kyouki?" he asked. "that's most intriguing."

"My parents were hippies," Kyo said with a smile, trying to make light of the situation. Kakashi laughed.

"Sure," he said in a way that clearly said he didn't believe her. "Well, it's your business."

"Kakashi-sensei, you're rude not to introduce yourself," Sakura scolded. "Kyo, this is our sensei, Hatake Kakashi."

Kyo bowed again. "Yoroshiku." She turned to Sasuke before everyone got carried away with introductions again. "Anou, Sasuke, I heard you were the one who found me?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah…"

"Could you lead me to where you found me, please? I left my belongings somewhere around there."

Sasuke shrugged and gave a short nod. Sakura folded her arms, looking displeased. "Eh… maybe someone should go with you two…?" she blurted. "I mean… nothing, personal, Kyo, but we can't really trust you yet…" she added quickly.

Kyo, remembering Shikamaru's words, thought she knew the real reason for Sakura's objection, but her cover-up explanation made sense. She shrugged. "I couldn't really care less. By all means, come along and protect your boyfriend."

Sakura went bright red but looked highly pleased. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I'll come too, Sakura-chan, if you need any help!" Naruto piped up immediately. Sakura's face darkened right away.

"Whatever," she snapped.

"My, how dangerous I seem to be considered," Kyo remarked with a smirk, raising her eyes upward innocently and trying not to look too condescending at these childish antics.

"Yeah, I go through this all the time," Kakashi said, lowering his voice and leaning forward slightly towards her confidentially.

"Oh whatever, Kakashi-sensei, it's Naruto being ridiculous," Sakura said, tossing her head. "I mean, one extra person is really enough, but he thinks I need protection and is just being a baby." For such a bright person, she was incredibly ignorant of the hypocrisy in this statement. Naruto started to defend himself indignantly, and Sasuke put a hand across his forehead wearily.

"Look, you guys, don't bother," Kakashi told them. "I know where Kyo was found; I'll bring her there. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura will be endangered, okay?"

Sakura and Naruto both looked satisfied right away, but Sasuke looked peeved. As Kakashi and Kyo walked away, he spun to face Sakura with an annoyed expression. "You're not my damn wife, Sakura! You just get jealous and overprotective over absolutely nothing. You know I could easily fend for myself, and a fat lot of help you would be anyways," he snapped.

Sakura flinched as if he'd slapped her. "I only had your safety in mind…" she stuttered in a small, quavering voice.

"Oh, yeah? If Kyo was a guy, would you have suddenly had my safety in mind?"

Sakura looked at the ground and said nothing. Sasuke snorted in disgust.

"Don't talk to Sakura-chan like that! She has feelings, you jerk!" Naruto yelled.

"Oh shut up, dobe," Sasuke snapped.

He, of course, didn't. "Why's it so important, anyways? You just wanted to be alone with her? Ooooh, Sasuke's got the hots for an ugly girl…" Naruto started to taunt.

"You moron; I wanted to learn some stuff about her, that's all. You may be too dense to notice it, Naruto, but it's obvious that she has told us almost nothing about herself, and there's something strange about her. But because you two had to make a big federal case out of everything, now I can't find anything out."

There was a pause while everyone mulled over this.

"I guess I did act kind of immaturely," Sakura finally muttered.

"Hmph," Naruto grouched, not ready to admit defeat so soon.

"But, Kakashi-sensei will tell us anything he learns, as well, right?" Sakura pointed out, trying to lighten up everyone.

"Hn. I guess," Sasuke consented. "Well, I hope he learns a lot…"

---------------

The walk had been in awkward silence the whole time, leaving Kyo to dwell on her thoughts. She continually glanced at her companion as they picked their way through the forest, stopping occasionally for him to think about which way to go next. Hatake Kakashi, eh? She had learned of him, of course, as it was her duty to learn of all high-level ninja that she might someday encounter, but even before she had realized who he was, he had fascinated her. Perhaps it was the mask, or the suave, easy-going manner, perhaps something more, but either way, she couldn't stop stealing looks at him and smiling just a bit.

_Stop it, _she told herself in disgust, catching herself for the fourth time. _Since when do you have stupid schoolgirl crushes?_

_Since you became Kyo? _a traitorous little part of her whispered. She tried to ignore it. Anyways, he was fourteen years older than she; so…

Kyo leapt like an eel as there was a tap on her shoulder. "Spacing out there?" Kakashi commented with a twitch of his mouth under his mask. "Hey.. are you okay?"

Kyo tried furiously to will her face back to its normal colour; she could feel it flaming as she nodded furiously. "Yeah! I was just thinking!" she stuttered, panicking. Did he _have _to go and touch her right then?

If he noticed her scarlet face, he didn't say anything. "Okay. Well, this is where I saw you carried off from." Kakashi indicated the area with a sweep of his arm. "Should I help you look for your things?"

"No, it's okay." Though she had been quite delirious by the time she had arrived here, she had a vague remembrance of where she had left her bag. In about ten minutes, she located it behind a rock some twenty or twenty-five feet from where she had fallen. Giving an inward sigh of relief at the sight of it, she opened it to take a brief inventory check. There was the bone-dry waterskin, her change of clothes, some personal hygiene items (which she had neglected to use most of the way anyways, not wanting to waste her precious little amount of water to brush her teeth or wash her face), her money-pouch, and of course, her headband and weapons.

Kakashi, waiting patiently, finally heard Kyo say, "okay, I found it," and looked up. She had her pack slung over her shoulder, and finally looked more like a normal ninja with her weapons pouches strapped to her legs and waist. She was also wearing a headband: the Sand Village emblem, with a deep groove scratched across it.

"You're a missing nin?" Kakashi exclaimed, the surprise showing clearly on the small part of his face that was visible.

Kyo smiled grimly. "Not officially. I actually did this just out of spite when I left."

"You left your village and spite it? Why?" His tone had instantly become harder, more judgmental and professional, at the sight of the headband.

"Ask Utatane-san," Kyo replied.

"Alright." They took a few more steps, and then Kakashi stopped and fixed Kyo with a serious gaze. "I don't want to prejudice," he started slowly, "but—"

"—you were just attacked by the Sand and so you can't trust me," Kyo finished. "I know."

Kakashi nodded once. "Exactly." He hesitated for a second before plunging on. "Maybe you shouldn't wear that headband. I don't mean you should hide your identity," he added quickly, "but especially with that scratch through it, it will make people think you're more dangerous than you are. Not to mention that if they think you betrayed your village, you can't be trusted to not betray this one."

Kyo looked at him steadily. "I _did _betray my village."

Kakashi didn't blink, but narrowed his eye the tiniest bit.

"I betrayed it in favour of this one. I know that sounds really ridiculous, but I already explained it all to Utatane-san; ask her if you want to know."

Kakashi started walking slowly again, scratching the back of his head. "Okay… so you did betray your village, but you aren't a missing nin?"

"Well, technically I didn't manage to betray them, because I didn't get here in time to. But I think the intention suffices as betrayal enough. But since they didn't know my intention, they aren't searching for me or anything. They'll think I'm dead anyways, what with me trying to cross the desert on my own and all."

"So you'll continue wearing that headband, will you?"

"I will."

Kakashi knew it was no use arguing. He was silent for while, but eventually he spoke up again. "I do have a question, though." Actually, he had countless questions, but he didn't think she would answer a lot of them.

Kyo eyed him warily but said nothing.

"Since you left your village and they think you're dead, are you intending to become a permanent citizen of Konoha?"

They stepped through the last sheets of underbrush and found themselves back on the outskirts of the village.

"I suppose so," Kyo said, part of her dreading this happening and part of her anticipating it with nervous excitement.

Kakashi smiled. "Well, you'll like it here. For now, though, I think the committee advisors and village council are going to have to do some discussing and debating about whether or not they'll accept you in right away. Until they've decided, you're still a guest. I would advise you to see the committee advisors to find out details. Well…" He looked around; they were back in the streets of Konoha. "I'm sure I've bored you long enough, so I'll take my leave…"

"You haven't bored me," Kyo said vehemently, before he could stop herself. _Crap, _she thought a split second later, feeling her face heat up again. "But yes, um, sayonara, sensei." She bowed quickly to hide her flushing face.

"Jyane," Kakashi said, sounding amused. By the time Kyo looked up again, he had turned and walked away.

* * *

"Chotto sumimasen" --Excuse me for a minute... (I am asking a question, but...)

"Ohayou", "Ohayou gozaimasu" --Good morning

"Sensei" --teacher (oh come on, we all knew that)

"Yoroshiku" --pleased to meet you

"Anou" --umm, er

"Jyane" --see you later!

There we go... anywhom... hope you enjoyed the chapter! But I just remembered something else I should have mentioned in my little summary thingy up above. Pairings; well...I will almost certainly add a light pairing with Kyo, but... it's a secret! >3 You can just drive yourselves mad thinking of who it will be, kehehe!

And, oh yes. The rating is for safety purposes. I think a T rating would probably have been fine, but I'm just making sure. You never know when I'm gonna get carried away (shifty eyes). So, the rating is for potty mouths and explicit content. No, I do not mean sex scenes, you pervs! I already told you the romance will be very light. I'm just warning you. In battle, or whatever the case is, I don't skimp on detail if I feel it would be more accurate the other way. But yeah, as I said. The rating is probably a bit high anyways.

So, 'til later!


	3. Chapter 3

Helloooo, minna! I have decided a couple more things to do with this story... for one, change the second genre to "angst"... because I just realized it is pretty angsty. Yay! Angst is fun. And, secondly, I'm going to leave messages for my reviewers, something I wish I had done in my other stories but only thought of it when it was kinda too late. Anywhom, they'll be at the end of each chapter. And now I won't feel like I'm neglecting my readers, as I usually do.

Well, enjoy... this should be the last boring chapter; chapter 4 the action starts!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Do I have to keep writing this?

* * *

CHAPTER 3

"Nee, nee, Kyo-chan!" (A/N: Remember the translations thingy at the end of the chapter, for your convenience.)

Kyo looked around to locate the sound, and her eyes fell onto Sakura, standing a ways away with a hand up in the air to indicate it was she who had spoken. Beside her a girl with light blonde hair tide in a bun waved madly, grinning contagiously. Next to them were also a girl in a pink Chinese shirt, who nodded in greeting, and a girl with silvery-white eyes and blue-black hair, who waved tentatively. Kyo trotted over.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I'm Ino!" the blonde girl announced out of the blue, right as Sakura opened her mouth to speak. "Konoha's number one beautiful kunoichi!" She struck a pose.

Sakura scoffed. The girl in pink grinned and clonked Ino over the head with her fist. "You wish. Ino! That would be _me, _Tenten."

The black-haired girl coughed innocently.

"Do you have something to say, Hinata?" Tenten demanded dangerously, giving her an evil look.

"N-no!" Hinata said quickly, shrinking.

Tenten laughed and slung an arm over Hinata's shoulder. "Oh, don't be such a mouse; I was kidding! Of course you can call Ino ugly, too," she offered confidentially.

"Oh, really?" Ino's voice was deadly. Her eyes blazed.

"Both of you, shut up," Sakura said. "Kyo, I heard you plan on staying in Konoha?"

Apparently they had talked with Kakashi again. Kyo nodded.

"Well, I guess you don't have anywhere to stay yet, do you? So I thought, for the first night at least, you could pass it with us at a sleepover at my house! We could all, you know, show you the ropes and give you advice. We women ninjas gotta stick together, y'know."

Kyo looked at her dubiously. "What happened to you not trusting me?"

"Well, yes, but that doesn't mean we necessarily _mis_trust you. Anyways..." she smiled slightly, indicating her 3 companions, "four of us are quite enough to take you, I think."

Kyo didn't think any of them looked too competent, except maybe Tenten, but her better judgment knew not to let appearances fool her. Ino seemed to read her mind.

"Yeah, Sakura may look like a wimp, but she's actually pretty tough," she said brightly. Sakura's eyebrow twitched.

"I look wimpy!"

"You heard me!" Ino stuck her tongue out.

"Oh don't start, you two," Tenten said loudly.

"Right. Let's just go." Ino and Sakura moved off to one side. "Kyo, get in here," Ino said, linking arms with Sakura and indicating that Kyo should take her other arm. Tenten linked her arm with a reluctant Hinata's.

Kyo stared. "What?"

"In the middle. Come one." Ino gestured impatiently. "First is a tour of the village, but we aren't going anywhere if you don't join in."

Kyo continued to stare. The others were starting to feel a bit foolish.

"You guys, I don't th…think, linking arms is really n-necessary…" Hinata spoke up quietly, but Kyo surprised them by suddenly shrugging and saying "whatever". She hooked one of her arms through Ino's and the other with Tenten's. It felt weirder than weird to go straight from one life as a ninja treated as nothing more than a weapon to one as a girl named Kyo that was linking arms with a posse of slight airheads.

They trooped through the whole village, the four other girls pointing out important buildings and shops (Ino made a big deal of the Yamanaka Hanaya), monuments and houses. Whenever they encountered someone any of they girls knew, they would stop them and introduce Kyo to them. Kyo felt their eyes rest on her headband, every time. Already she had had to explain to the other four as they walked that no, she was not a missing nin, and yes, she had come from the Sand but no, she had nothing to do with the attack. She had been lost in the desert the time of the attack anyways, dying of heat and thirst. Why do you think I was almost dead when I finally reached the forest, she reminded them.

Eventually they finished their tour and headed to the Harunos' house. Kyo raised an eyebrow as they entered Sakura's room. It was overwhelmingly pink, from the wall paint and carpet, bedding and curtains, to the lamp shades and pencil case on her desk. Tenten didn't look too thrilled about it, either.

"You can dump your bag here, Kyo-chan," Sakura said. Kyo shucked her bag off and set it down.

"Sakura, do you still have that awesome blue nail polish?" Ino asked absently, already rooting through Sakura's jewelry and cosmetics.

"I lent that to you remember?"

"What? No, you didn't."

"I did!"

"You so did not!"

"Ino, if you _lost _my nail polish—!"

"I _said _I didn't _have _it, you ninny!"

"Because you _lost _it!"

"Good grief," Kyo muttered as the two girls bickered about whether or not Ino had lost Sakura's nail polish.

"Y-yeah," Hinata agreed. "They're a-always like this," she said quietly with a small smile.

"I'm gonna go get some munchies," Tenten announced, heading for the door. Ino and Sakura tsked as she left. When she came back with a big bowl of greasy popcorn, they looked even more disapproving.

"You really should be more aware of your weight, Tenten," Sakura said.

"Why? I'm not fat." Tenten plunked down on the floor and dug in.

"Kyo, you agree, right? You must be really conscious of your weight; you're even skinnier than me," said Sakura.

"Are you kidding?" Kyo sat down beside Tenten and scooped out a handful of popcorn. "I love popcorn."

Sakura stared.

"Maybe it's just because I exercise," Kyo said smoothly, innocence coating the little jab.

"Or because you starved for a couple days in the desert?" Ino suggested.

Kyo paused with a piece of popcorn halfway to her mouth, and cracked a small smile. "Ok, that too," she consented.

"I want some," Hinata said shyly. Tenten passed the bowl over to her. Ino and Sakura sweat-dropped, clearly outvoted.

"So…" Sakura sat down with them, and Ino joined in. They all shuffled around a bit to form a circle. "We need something to talk about."

"I think Kyo should tell us her story," Tenten said immediately. Everyone's heads whipped around to stare at Kyo attentively, hoping for her consent.

She calmly took another piece of popcorn. "No."

The others deflated. "But why not?" Ino whined. "You told the committee advisor, didn't you?"

"It's the committee advisor's business to know. Not yours." _And anyways, it's not like I told the truth, _she added to herself.

"Hmph." Ino tossed her head.

"Look, I'll tell you all you need to know, all right? I left my village because I hated it. I tried to cross the desert to Konoha. I got lost and my water and food ran out. I nearly died, then I finally saw trees; I managed to get into their cover for a little while, and then passed out and woke up in the hospital. There." Kyo realized she'd been crushing a piece of popcorn between her fingers as she talked, and brushed the crumbs off on her shorts.

"And it was Sasuke-kun that found you, wasn't it?" Ino exclaimed, leaning forward eagerly.

"Uh… yeah."

She and Sakura both sighed heavily. "You're so lucky!" Ino said dreamily. "Being rescued by Sasuke-kun."

"But it wasn't like he carried her," Sakura told Ino reassuringly.

"Oh, really?" Ino perked up. "Oh, well you're not _so _lucky, then."

"What's so great about Sasuke?" Kyo asked, frowning slightly.

Ino and Sakura exchanged a look that clearly said, silly little newcomer. Tenten spoke for them. "Well, he's only the single hottest, coolest, and probably most advanced rookie in Konoha. Though… I dunno. Neji and Naruto are both very powerful too, aren't they?" she asked the other two.

They didn't hear her. They were both off in Dreamland thinking about Sasuke.

The talk turned to comparing the Konoha genins—and Shikamaru, the chuunin. But mostly Ino and Sakura dithered over Sasuke, and Tenten giggled along with them. Hinata and Kyo munched on popcorn and mulled over their own thoughts. The more Kyo listened to the other three, the more she began to think that with these girls, perhaps they could be judged quite accurately by their appearances. They didn't seem very formidable in any way. A small feeling of scorn rose in her. Hinata she wasn't sure about, though. She was very quiet; Kyo decided she liked her more than the others.

"Anou, S-Sakura-san, is this the n-nail polish… you were looking for…?" Hinata held up a small bottle of glittery metallic blue nail polish. "I saw it under your bed…"

"A_ha! _I _TOLD _you, forehead girl!" Ino crowed triumphantly, snatching the bottle.

"Shut up and paint my toenails." Sakura held a foot out imperiously.

"Paint your own smelly feet!" Ino shoved Sakura's foot away. Hinata giggled; Tenten rolled her eyes.

"Nee, Kyo-chan! I bet this colour would look nice on you!" Ino said, scrutinizing Kyo. "But wait… oh; I think green would suit you _really _well. You know, you should wear a green shirt and black shorts, instead of vice-versa. Yeah! And maybe a green ribbon in your hair or some jewelry—ooh, ooh, and—"

"Settle down, Ino, geez!" Tenten laughed.

"I'm just thinking of how Kyo-chan could play up her looks! You agree, right Hinata?"

Hinata looked terrified. "Oh…um…I d-don't know… I think the g-green shorts and black shirt look n-nice, though," she added shyly.

"Hm, well, maybe."

Sakura joined in. "But Ino's right, Kyo, you could be really pretty if you, I dunno, did something with your appearance. You know a touch up here and there." She twisted her head around to look at Kyo's ears. "Like, you should get your ears pierced!"

"And you have such lovely hair; you should add some ornaments or tie it up fancy or something," Tenten chipped in.

Ino clapped her hands together. "I know! How about we give you a makeover! We'll completely doll you up and then we'll go outside and see how many boys whistle at you!"

"How about if you so much as _touch _me, I break your fingers one by one," Kyo hissed.

The others fell silent. It wasn't until now that they noticed the murderous expression on Kyo's face. Sakura laughed nervously. Kyo did not smile.

"We just think you should accentuate your features more; make them more noticeable," she said hesitantly, attempting to bring the atmosphere back to friendly.

Kyo shot to her feet. "_Noticeable _is not exactly my life's goal." She looked over Ino, Sakura, and Tenten with a witering glare. "You're stupid. _Ninjas." _She snorted derisively. "All you care about are your looks and boys."

She turned to leave and 3 kunai thudded into the door, one on either side of her head and one above it. She turned slowly.

"Is that so?" snapped Tenten.

"Is that why Sakura sliced her long, beautiful hair off to save herself and her teammates? And why I cut mine off to prove it meant nothing!" Ino yelled.

"Y-you guys…" Hinata squeaked. They ignored her.

"Oh, good for you," Kyo shot back. "And yet you still make a big fuss to do it up, I see. You both are wearing makeup."

"It doesn't mean we think about nothing else," Sakura spat. "It means that we have other lives aside from our ninja ones, too. We still like to have a bit of fun. To loosen up."

Kyo stood riveted to the spot. It was these words that hit her. _"We have other lives aside from our ninja ones, too." _It was that simple fact that caused the misunderstanding; she never had. But she regretted her outburst; she had been wrong to judge them simply because she was not familiar with a life like theirs'.

She yanked the kunai out of the door one by one, and tossed them to their owners. "Okay, sorry," she muttered.

"You should be," Ino said.

Kyo glared. "Excuse me for this being a bit difficult to grasp. I was raised thinking lives like yours were impossible."

She noticed they were all staring at her attentively again, now that she'd revealed a bit more about her past. She raised her eyebrows. "And if you think I'm going to now blurt out some sob story of a tragic life and start crying, you're sadly mistaken."

They all pretended to not know what she was talking about.

---------------

Kyo slept like a cat, so at the first disturbance of the quiet she woke up. The other four were all changing back into their day clothes and buckling on kunai and shuriken pouches. The alarm clock on Sakura's desk blinked 5:34 in scarlet digital letters.

"Oh, 'morning, Kyo," said Tenten groggily, seeing her awake first. Kyo rubed her eyes and sat up on her mattress.

"Are you all going training?" she asked, and added quickly, "Good morning." This politeness thing still threw her off.

"Um-hm," Sakura nodded sleepily. She didn't look too thrilled with the world in general at the moment. "And Kakashi-sensei won't even be there for another 2 or 3 hours, I just know it," she grumbled.

"I guess I'll get up too." Kyo pushed her blankets off. She was wearing a white nightgown of Sakura's.

"Why? What on earth is wrong with you?" Ino exclaimed incredulously, peering at Kyo from the mirror as she tied her hair up into a bun.

"Yeah, I m-much rather just go… back to sl-sleep," Hinata said quietly, and gave a huge yawn.

Kyo shrugged. By nature she wasn't a person who slept much. Sakura tossed her her clothes and Kyo changed quickly, then strapped on her weapons pouches.

They all took different paths when they stepped out of Sakura's house. Kyo was heading for the Konoha Hall to see whoever was temporarily in charge. It promised to be a scorcher today; the sky was electrically pink by the horizon and even through the morning haze the sun shone strongly already. Kyo did some stretches as she walked; she hadn't exercised much for the past few days and didn't want to get out of shape.

The past few days. Man, but yesterday had been weird. She was already known as a moody girl named Kyo who was being sucked into a group of hyperactive (with the exception of Hinata) kunoichi. An identity already. Though she knew when she had made up her mind to leave for Konoha that this would be a turning point in her life, and that she would have to adapt to life as a new person, having a name and personality made her edgy. Once she had longed for such luxury, to be known and recognized as a normal person, but now she yearned to discard it again to fade back into the mists of those unknown and, as far as anyone was concerned, non-existing. She was safe then. Untouchable.

But was this really how she felt? Did she truly want to pass her whole life being nobody? _Without an identity, you're invincible. If you can be identified, you're dead. In this job, you must be nothing. _But it's not my job anymore. _Is that so? _Why can I not understand my own longings? It should be easy to know if I want this new life or not! _You don't _have _your own longings. You're nobody! Remember?_

Kyo realized she had stopped walking. Her heart was pounding s she snapped out of her inward battle. She wanted this new life, but she felt it would kill her. Just the burden of a name was weighing her down. I would surely soon crush her. She wanted to want it. She wanted to want to want it. The confusion of the whole topic as it twined with her apprehension spiraled out around her in a web that blocked out everything, trailing into infinity.

What had Sakura said? _"We have other lives aside from our ninja ones, too." _The irony in this was unbelievable. One of Kyo's first, and most frequent rules completely contradicted Sakura's logic.

"_Mom?"_

_The word was barely out of the girl's mouth when she was dealt such a stunning backhand that she spun across the room and found herself sprawled on the floor before she understood fully what had happened. She stared at the floor beneath her, her 4-year-old mind not understanding what she had done wrong. _

_Footsteps. And then She had knelt in front of the little girl, and took her chin in a gloved hand, raising her face to look at her. She cocked her head, and spoke. "What did you call me?_

_The girl blinked hesitantly. "M-m…mom?" she tried again._

_SLAP._

_She must have blacked out momentarily, for she didn't remember hitting the floor again this time, but then Her hand was back on her chin. When She spoke up Her voice was friendly, as if She had done nothing to harm the girl. "I'm not your mother. You don't have a mother. You are not a daughter, you are not even a child. Right? Do you disagree?"_

_The girl met Her eyes, the blank, neutral brown eyes that never showed emotion. "No," she said._

"_Good." She released the girl's chin. "Now what did you want?"_

"_Um…"_

"_Stand up when you address me," She said sharply._

_The child stood obediently, as did She. The girl wished she hadn't started talking in the first place; she never seemed to be able to please Her, and she almost always ended up being slapped. Despite this she always tried to initiate conversation anyways. Deep in her infant mind she wanted, oh how she wanted so badly, to break through the ice that coated Her, to have Her praise her and hug her and tell her she was wonderful. All the other children's mothers did. Why did she have to be so different? Why?_

"_Well? You're wasting my time. Hurry and speak." _

_The girl bit her lip and shuffled her feet. "Jirou from the village said it was his birthday today." She glanced up to see how She would react._

_Her eyes were unreadable, as always. "And?"_

"_What's a birthday? He said everyone has one, but I don't. Or where is it?"_

_She shook her head slowly. "Don't worry about birthdays. They don't apply to you."_

"_What are they?" The girl pressed._

"_I said never mind." Her voice was sharp now as She turned away. The girl stood, her jaw still aching, her head spinning. Experience told her to never, ever press the subject when She dropped it, but this time something inside her snapped._

"_Why?"_

"_What?" She turned slowly. "Why what?"_

"_Why… why do so many things not apply to me? Why? Names, parents, birthdays! Why?"_

"_Don't ask questions."_

"_**WHY?" **The girl screamed. This time she was expecting the blow to her face, but not for it to be so violent. She crashed to the floor once again, feeling blood fill her mouth. A bloody sob escaped from her throat._

"_Are you crying?" The dreaded hand was back under her chin. "Little crybaby. Weakling. Pathetic."_

"_No!" The girl choked, trying to fend off the barbs with her own weak shield of a denying word. But they sliced through her defenses all the same and stabbed at her heart._

"_Do you want to know why these things don't apply to you?"_

_The girl nodded vehemently, tears still dripping down off her chin._

"_Because you are a ninja."_

"_But Jirou and the students of the academy are becoming ninjas! Kazekage-sama is a ninja! And they all have names! Even… even Gaara-sama has a name."_

"_You're a special type of ninja. One that will excel the abilities of the brats at the academy. I am raising you the proper way, the only way, for you to become this glorious ninja."_

"_But Gaara-sama…"_

"_Gaara is not a ninja," She snapped. "He is a special exception. Do not compare yourself to Gaara; you will never be as strong as him. But you are a different type of ninja that will come close to being as deadly even as Gaara."_

"_But why can't I have a name?" The girl persisted._

_She sighed at her density. "Selfish brat. You want the life of someone likfe everyone else, as well as a ninja? Ungrateful! Little! Wretch!" She hissed the last three words and shook the girl by her thin shoulders to emphasize them. "You can never be anyone but a ninja! You can never be like them! This is what separates you from being silly excuses for ninjas like they are. You will show the world what power really is, without paltry possessions like 'birthdays'. Now quit sniveling like a baby. Ninjas don't cry."_

_The girl stopped._

_It was eight years before she ever cried again._

"Yo! Kyo!"

Kyo looked up, startled out of her daze. Shikamaru was approaching her from her left, scratching his head. "What?" she asked.

"You going to go see the committee advisors?"

"None of your business, is it?"

"Oh geez, crabby woman this morning. Too bright and early for you, Sunshine?"

"For your information, I get up around this hour regularly, "Kyo replied, keeping her eyes ahead of her as Shikamaru fell in step with her.

"You don't say. And yet you still don't find time to comb your hair?"

"Why don't you piss off, wise-ass?"

"Such a lovely, delicate flower of a girl," he remarked. Kyo gritted her teeth.

"If you want to remain one piece with your jaw—"

"Okay, okay, geez, just trying to joke a bit. Whatever, you're too troublesome. Anyways, I'm supposed to tell you the Konoha Hall requests your presence as soon as possible."

Though Kyo had been headed over there anyway, she didn't see why they would send for her. "Why?" she asked, frowning.

Shikamaru sighed vaguely and looked up innocently, twiddling his thumbs. "Gee, I just might know something about it, now that you mention it, mightn't I? But you see, I was just addressed rather rudely and it has upset me so much that I can't seem to remember."

Kyo stopped in her tracks. "Oh, come on," she said irritably. "Don't be stupid."

"Alright, alright. I'll piss off now. Sorry to bother you." Shikamaru heaved a long-suffering sigh and started to trudge away, waving over his shoulder.

"Frig," Kyo muttered, glaring at his retreating back. Well, there was only one way to find out what she was being summoned for now.

A man with a scar across his nose and a hairstyle similar to Shikamaru's was sitting in a chair off to the side of the Hokage's seat, which was empty. The Hall was mostly empty at this time of day, but behind the wide desks that stretched across the room, the employees were already getting settled down. Kyo started when she heard her name called out, and looked around to locate the source. Her heart twisted as she saw Kakashi, with a crowd of other people standing by one desk, motioning her over.

_Stop it, _she told her traitorous heart as it swooned. But another little part of her mind said, _you can let go of your old inhibitions. You can be Kyo now. You can let yourself feel._

_Fine, _she agreed grudgingly, as she trotted towards Kakashi. _But no blushing._

"Ohayou, Kyo-chan," Kakashi greeted her with a smile. She blushed.

Before she could even bow in response, a man with a handkerchief tied around his head and a toothpick bobbing between his teeth spoke up. "Hey, it's the wraith from the forest, isn't it?

Kyo frowned. "Wraith?"

"You were bloody light as a corpse. Put some meat on those bones yet?"

"You carried me?"

"Mhmm."

"Oh, don't tell her that, Genma, you'll creep her out," joked a lady with short black hair and light green eyes.

"What!" Genma took the toothpick out of his mouth and started trying to stab the woman with it. "Shut up, Yuki!"

"Eww, oniichan, I don't want your herpes!" the woman laughed.

The other adults seemed to find it entertaining to watch as Genma and his sister battled. Kyo wondered if they were drunk. Since they didn't seem about to clarify why they'd called her over any time soon, she let her eyes wander over the desk they were gathered by. A small orange book lay face-down on the surface. The back cover was blank, save for a red circle with a line through it, the "restricted" sign. Intrigued, she started to pick it up, when a gloved hand suddenly yanked it away. A nervous-looking Kakashi stuffed it into his pocket and shook a finger at her, though his eye looked cheerful. "Sorry, that's mine," he said.

"Ah, gomennasai," Kyo said hurriedly, bowing. "I didn't mean to intrude into Kakashi-sensei's important notes; I hope he can forgive me!" She bowed again.

"Ehe…" Kakashi looked shiftier than ever. "Yeah, um, oh, it's okay… don't worry about it."

A man with spiky hair black hair and a white bandage on his chin and each cheek snorted. "'Important notes'; don't even try passing that off, Kakashi!" He nudged Kyo, who was puzzled. "hey, it's not his notebook. It's a dirty book called Icha Icha Paradise."

Kakashi sweatdropped and sighed as the other adults laughed and Kyo's eyes widened. "N-nani?" she exclaimed.

"Look, it's just some light reading," Kakashi defended himself. "Anyways, Kyo, you're probably wondering why we called you over, right?"

Kyo was pretty sure he was conveniently changing the topic, but decided not to mention it. She nodded.

"Well, we're actually just waiting for Utatane-san right now; she wanted you to come here to test you."

"Test me?" Kyo echoed.

"Why do you think we're all here?"

"I really have no idea."

"Take a wild guess."

"To test me?"

"Touché."

Kyo was puzzled, but didn't say anything. Suddenly she remembered something. "Anou… Kakashi-sensei…"

"Hn?"

"Don't you have training with your team today?"

* * *

----Other side of town----

* * *

Sakura and Naruto paced back and forth, deadpanned expressions on their faces that were steadily growing darker. Finally Sakura exploded.

"WHERE IS HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" A flock of birds took flight, alarmed, and rabbits and squirrels all through the forest dove for cover as the scream echoed through the trees.

* * *

----Back at the Konoha Hall----

* * *

"Eh," Kakashi waved a hand airily. "They won't mind. I can take another couple hours."

"Utatane-san!" someone said suddenly. Everyone turned to give the committee advisor a slight bow in greeting as she approached.

"Ah, excellent, Kyo is here already," she said, smiling at Kyo. "How are you this morning, Kyo?"

"Fine."

"In good shape? Not sore or anything?"

"Not really," Kyo said, confused.

"Good. Let's sort some things out." The old lady tucked a strand of hair that had wisped out of its bun behind her ear. "You said you are a chuunin of 5 years?"

"I did."

"And you intend to become a citizen of Konoha?"

Kyo nodded once.

"So would I be wrong to assume you will want to be a Konoha ninja?"

"No…"

"That's what I thought. Well, I hope you're pleased to hear that the council has accepted you asa resident of Konoha, for one thing. But in order for you to officially become a ninja of our village, we need to test you and analyze what we think of your skill. I will tell you straight away that this is by our standars, so though you may have been a chuunin for five years in Sunagakure, if we don't find your skill adequate, you may be reduced to a genin by our standards. Wakatta?"

"Hai." Kyo nodded ever so slightly.

"Alright. We'll be doing this outside. We've roped off a secluded area of forest."

"Does every newcomer receive this kind of treatment?" Kyo asked Utatane as they all trooped outside. The lady smiled.

"Oh no. But when you say you've been a chuunin since you were seven, it does cause quite a curiosity among us to probe your talent." The group turned off the street and headed for a hilly, grassy area bordered with trees. "So this is how it will work," Utatane told Kyo as they walked. "First off we'll simply drill you on some basic ninja techniques in the three basic categories: tai-, nin-, and genjutsu. Most of us will be judges, though some of us will have to volunteer to be your opponents in the drills. After that, we have a harder test for you. But I'll give you the details of that later, so you don't have to worry about it for now."

"Oh, I'm not worried," Kyo said softly. She was actually getting pretty revved up. It had been at least a week since she'd fought someone; the adrenaline was seeping into her blood at the thought of battle.

They entered the border of the trees, walked not long through sparse forest, and emerged in a large clearing, where the committee advisor called a halt.

"Alright." She stepped back to look at Kyo and nodded once. "Let's get started."

* * *

**What are these tests, and how will Kyo do? Next chapter,** **Kyo's strengths and weaknesses(or some of them), revealed! **

* * *

Translations...

"Nee" --Hey(for the record, it is not pronounced "nee". It is pronounced "neh", though with the end vowel elongated.)

"Hanaya" --flower shop

"Oniichan" --older brother

"Gomennasai" --sorry, excuse me

"Nani" --what?

"Wakatta?" --Understand?

Alrighty, those done.

**Ashen Rose--**Hi! My first reviewer, you get... special mention! Dun dun darun dun! (Those were trumpets.) Alright, special mentions aside... most of your questions are the ones I answered... or at least mentioned (shifty eyes) at the beginning of the second chapter. You have to find them out yourself. :P But who is Oreo-coo...? (Confusion...) And thanks for the poem! It was good! n.n

**Always lost123--**Thanks for the reviews and cheerful faces. n.n

**The Magical Whatever--**I like your username, haha. Yes... "interesting" works. :P

**Song OfA Fallen Angel--**There we go with the "interesting"s again. Glad I didn't create an -uninteresting- character. Thanks for the review!

**Scribbie--**A silent fan! Weird! Makes me wonder how many of those I have. Well, I'm glad I managed to break your silence, and happy you like my character... I do too, though she has her bad spots. n.n Hopefully I can worm another review out of you, as opposed to you going back to being silent...

**Wyrvvn--**Haha... IIiiiii knoowww youuuu! Hi! (waves) Aww, I can't believe you told that on the internet... well, you have my sympathy; my dad is an asshole too. But keep on being cheerful; it's the best way to get over things.

**Serena-Masked13--**Muahaha! Glad I've piqued the interest of someone as to the pairings! Don't get too sure of yourself, though... it is very obvious that Kyo has a crush on Kakashi, but that doesn't mean anything'll happen between them. ...Or does it? Haha. As for a Sasuke pairing... again... you never know! You'll just have to wait and see. >3

Alrighty, I'm done! Ciao! Remember to review!


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